For week 5 of SCL, I decided to go with an Asian theme.  Mostly because I wanted to do all my grocery shopping at H-Mart which seems to be significantly cheaper.  I didn’t want to do a rice dish because I didn’t want to deal with taking rice cookers to church.  My one regret with this meal is that there wasn’t very much protein.  In the future I’d like to try blending silken tofu into a creamy soup, but didn’t want to risk trying it for such a large group my first time.  Let me know if you’ve had any experience with creaming tofu into soup!

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Serves 25

Adapted from Guy Fieri

• 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 onions, diced
• 1  1/2 tsp salt
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 12 cups vegetable stock (3 32oz containers, or 6 veggie bullion cubes + water)
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger (dried)

Heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and salt, cook for 10 minutes.  Add garlic and ginger, saute for an additional 2 minutes.  Add carrots, potato, and stock, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes, until carrots and potatoes are very tender.  Puree soup with an immersion blender until very smooth (or in batches with a blender).  Adjust seasoning as needed.

This soup was very popular!  It’s an excellent low-calorie option that’s still full of flavor.

Asian Cabbage Salad with Ginger-Lime- Soy Sauce Dressing

Serves 15-20

Adapted from the Pioneer Woman

• 1/3 package dried Soba noodles (Soba is Japanese buckwheat noodles.  They usually come with 3 bunches in one package),  cooked, rinsed, and cooled
• 1/2 head napa cabbage, sliced
• 1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
• 1 orange bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
• 1 bag bean sprouts (a.k.a. mung bean sprouts)
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 cucumber, quartered and chopped
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 1 bag frozen edamame, thawed (These are soy beans.  Make sure you get the kind out of the pods…that’s a lot of work you don’t need)
• 1 can cashews, lightly toasted and chopped